The Road to Adventure: A New Dawn
by Tiger-Cub684
Summary: discombobulated.shoe.'s birthday fic! :D It's been 2 months since arriving back in Spain, and Miguel is getting restless. Time for a new adventure, you say? ChelXTulio


The Road to Adventure: A New Dawn

Tulio took another swig of cheap wine. He was sitting in the dark, save for the dwindling candlelight, making note of their last escapades, counting the money they had wittingly swindled from those trusting tourists that morning. It had been an excellent scheme. A game of dice, where they tourists were asked to guess if the number were to be higher or lower than the number six. The fact that the dice were loaded to always roll seven was completely irrelevant. And Miguel had reasoned that it was fair, as it was still a matter of chance which way the victims guessed. They had been trying to ease up on the scams and tricks for money. It had become all too easy. Giving the players even a small chance of winning increased the thrill of the game. And since when had Miguel and Tulio said no to a challenge? Never.

Tulio sighed as the candle flickered once more. He looked out the window. It was well and truly night. So where was Miguel? As if on cue, Miguel chose that moment to swing open the door and stumbled inside, clearly intoxicated.

"Why, if it isn't my old pal Tulio!" he cried jubilantly, slurring his words.

Tulio rolled his eyes. He heard Chel stir in the other room, probably awoken from the noise. Luckily, she didn't come out. Tulio sighed again and got up to catch Miguel as he began to fall.

"I keep telling you not to go out every night. You're drinking away our money!" Tulio lectured his friend.

"What are you looking at, Stumpy?" Miguel replied, hallucinating.

Tulio groaned and dropped Miguel, letting him fall onto the floor. He was annoyed. They had been back in Spain for two months, and had so far managed to avoid the attention of the guard. Once they had seen wanted posters with their faces on them, but they had quickly torn them down. And since only Cortes had been interested in capturing them, and he hadn't been seen in months, the city guard forgot about the duo. So they were safe for the time being…but not if Miguel kept causing trouble.

"You really aught to lighten up," Miguel garbled from the floor.

"I think you're doing enough lightening up for both of us." Tulio replied.

"You know, you should come with me sometime. Like in the good old days." Miguel was beginning to sober up, but still thoroughly drunk.

"I can't. We can't afford it. When will you understand that?" Tulio smacked his forehead in frustration.

"In El Dorado, we had all the gold we could ever imagine having," Miguel mumbled.

Tulio sighed. "I know. But we're not there anymore. And we'll never be able to go back there. So stop talking about it." he dismissed. He understood where Miguel was coming from. Sure, he was glad to be back in Spain, but living in El Dorado was certainly convenient; having whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, all the authority, being worshiped as Gods. It had been hard to give up, even if he was the first one who wanted to leave. And of course, all the gold they had left behind. _But no_, he told himself, _that was then, this is now. Thinking about it will only make you depressed_.

* * *

Miguel awoke to an enormous headache. He groaned "Ahhh, what happened last night?"

"You came home drunk. Again." Tulio replied sharply. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, and so was understandably cranky.

Suddenly memories of the night before came rushing back. "Of course," Miguel smiled, remembering the beer, the women; it was a great night. He looked up at Tulio. He was sitting hunched up in the corner, fiddling with the dice.

"So, what's for breakfast?" Miguel asked with a smile. Tulio hated that smile. It was so carefree and innocent, and it almost always led to trouble.

"Eggs. Lots and lots of greasy eggs." Tulio replied cruelly, smiling in satisfaction at the gagging noises which followed. "It's your own fault."

Miguel reappeared, pulling his head from out the window. "No matter, I'm not hungry after all. So, what's the plan for today? Are we going to the docks to swindle the people as they come off the boat? Or head for the markets with a card game? Your choice."

Tulio glared at him.

"Ok then, I'll pick." he replied, unfazed.

Tulio collapsed on the floor. "I really can't deal with this," he moaned.

"What? Choosing the game? Don't worry, that's why I'm here,"

"No, you. With your late nights, and your drinking. We're going to be broke at this rate. And I haven't had a good nights' sleep in about a week!" Tulio exclaimed.

"Oh, that. Well, sorry. I was just having a good time. You know, living it up. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. You should follow my philosophy." Miguel replied smugly.

"You're philosophy is going to end in our deaths." Tulio replied defeated.

"Yes, it should if we're lucky. And what a way to go!" Miguel had an idea. "Hey, you know what we should do? We should go to the docks, stow away on some ship, and see where it takes us, eh? Just like the good ol' days."

Tulio looked up. "Are you seriously suggesting we leave Spain and go on another adventure, to some far-away place, where there's every chance we'll never come back?"

"Yes, I am." Miguel replied.

"…sounds good. When do we leave?" he said sarcastically.

* * *

"This is the worst idea. Ever." Tulio remarked, as they stood at the docks watching the sailors go about moving cargo to and from the ships.

"I'm not so sure about this, it could be dangerous." Chel agreed. She was dressed in men's clothing to hide the fact she was a girl.

"Oh, you two are just being pessimistic. This shall be an excellent adventure." Miguel replied cheerfully.

"So what are we supposed to do? Cause a distraction and jump on board, hiding in the cargo bay until they reach wherever they're going? Again?" Tulio asked

"No, don't be silly. I'm sure we'll find another – "

"Here you are. You're late. I said to come at dawn!" interrupted a grizzly voice.

They turned to find a worn-out looking old sailor. "When I say dawn, I expect my new crew to arrive at dawn, not five minutes before we leave."

"Sorry sir, we got lost trying to find the ship." improvised Miguel.

"Yeah? Well you're all lucky I'm too drunk to be properly angry at you. So hurry up and get on board before sober up and leave without you. Go on, shoo" the old man said fiercely.

Miguel saluted and led the way onto the moderate ship the old man gestured to, signalling for Tulio and Chel to do the same.

"What the blazes do you think you're doing? Have you lost you mind? Because it certainly seems like it." Tulio whispered furiously to Miguel.

"Just play along. We'll jump ship at the next port. It'll be fine." Miguel dismissed,

"Play along? If they discover we're just a bunch of stow-aways they'll – "

"What? What do you think they'll do to us?" Miguel asked

"Shoot us? Make us walk the plank? Sell us as slaves? Who knows what these brutes are capable of?"

"Walk the plank? These people are hardly pirates." Miguel rolled his eyes, looking out at the rest of the crew. The seemed like regular, sea worn sailors. Nothing even remotely sinister-looking about them. A few of them were even in the corner playing a civil game of checkers. "Do they look like brutes to you?"

"…looks can be deceiving." Tulio reminded him

"Rubbish, stop overreacting. We'll be fine. Chel isn't complaining." He replied, looking to Chel,

"I'm just glad to be going out somewhere. Spain's nice, but going on a vacation every now and then would be great."

Tulio was stunned. "We've only been back in Spain for a few months. And you were against the idea a few minutes ago."

"Yes, well, I changed my mind. Since you don't let me go out on my own a lot here, it doesn't take long to tire of staying in the house or those filthy backstreets where you run your scams." Chel replied.

"That was for your own safety. Spain's not as safe for women as El Dorado. Here even the guards might take a fancy to you and you'd never be heard of again. Especially since you look so exotic." Miguel defended.

"And besides, it's likely we won't ever come back from this 'adventure'. Aren't you afraid at all for our deaths?" Tulio asked, trying to win at least one more person over to his side again.

"Not really. I agree with Miguel; it's better to die in some wonderfully exciting adventure than die old, sitting confined to a small house in Spain for the rest of my life."

Tulio groaned, "I can't believe this. Am I the only sane person here?"

"You liked this idea this morning." Miguel pointed out, "And rather than _everyone else_ being 'not sane', wouldn't it make more sense that _you're_ the insane one while everyone else is perfectly sane?"

"That was before I realised you were actually serious about this ridiculous plan. And no, I am still the only sane one."

"Well it's too late to complain now," Chel interrupted.

"Why?"

"The ship's already moving."

Tulio and Miguel looked back towards the port to find that it was indeed moving, becoming gradually smaller. The ship had set sail and was nearing open water.

"Great, so now we have no chance of leaving this ridiculous quest."

"Just relax Tulio. It's going to be great. We'll sail around, earn our keep like real workers, visit some fancy new places, it'll be fun." Miguel soothed.

They saw the old sailor who had hired them walk past, "Hey, Captain, where are we headed again?" Chel asked, deepening her voice,

"Well, we're delivering goods to Brazil, where we'll then pick up more goods to be taken to Ireland, and then another shipment to France. From France we sail back to Spain. It's a round trip." The captain explained, "But we'll be making stops every few days at some of 'em islands along the way. This trip is my last before my retirement. So I wanted to make it a bit fun too, like a holiday before I say good-bye to the mighty seas for good. As long as we deliver the goods before two new moons have past, we'll all be fine."

"See Tulio, this'll be easy. A fun little cruise. Doesn't sound dangerous at all." Miguel replied smugly.

"Aye, it doesn't sound dangerous, but never underestimate the power of the seas. Fair chance we could be taken in a storm. But if we're lucky, all should go well." The Captain reminded

"Well, there's always some kind of risk in anything." Miguel shrugged.

"Fair words, boy, fair words. Now how abouts you lot get to work, eh? I'm not paying ya for nothing."

"Aye aye captian." Miguel replied eagerly.

The captain smiled. It was good to see such eager youth these days.

"Good. Now go make sure the cargo is secure. It's in the hull through there," he replied, pointing to the covered hole in the deck with stairs leading downwards, "But don't you steal anything, mind you. We'll be here together for a few months. And stealing will only get you thrown over to the sharks. Lord knows they're always happy for a meal."

* * *

Miguel, Tulio and Chel travelled with the merchant ship for many days. It was the first time the boys had ever had a real job, one involving manual labour at least, but the weather was mild and the rest of the crew friendly, so they didn't mind. Chel ended up in the kitchens helping the chef, as the less time she spent outside in the full light, the less chance there was of someone realising she was a woman. The first island they reached was small and fairly empty. They only stayed for the day to replenish supplies. But the next island they landed on was much more inviting. It seemed like a typical tropical island, with dense rainforest, crystal clear beaches and waters deep enough to bring the ship to an embankment close enough to walk to the shore. The Captain decided that they were to stay for a few days.

The crew were happily enjoying the tropical escape, lounging on the beach (under the Captains instruction) and exploring the richly-vegetated island. After only a day, they had seen an abundance of exotic birds and other small, harmless wildlife. It was an ideal location. Chel had taken the rare opportunity to sun herself while the rest of the crew were deep in the forest. Tulio and Miguel were arguing in the sand next to her.

"I can't believe you're even considering this!" yelled Tulio

"I don't see why it's such a bad idea." Miguel replied,

"How can you not? You're saying we should abandon the ship and stay _here_, on this deserted island, and wait for the next happy-go-lucky boat to pass. It's madness."

"We don't know that this island is completely deserted. And I didn't say we wait for another boat, I said stay and explore a little, like on an adventure. Who knows, we could run into another ancient hidden civilisation."

"Another one? Well why not," Tulio remarked sarcastically, "since the last one was _so_ friendly,"

"Hey," interjected Chel, "My people _were_ friendly. We treated you as gods."

"Except for that insane priest who tried to kill us with his voodoo magic," Tulio replied,

Miguel sighed. "Tulio, please, just calm down and listen,"

Tulio crossed his arms angrily, but obeyed.

"We don't have to stay if you really don't want to. I understand that abandoning a perfectly good ship for a possibly deserted island from which there is likely no return, doesn't exactly sound very appealing. But I was just hoping that you might want to do something fun, go on adventure, like the old days. Don't you remember when we were younger?" Miguel reminisced, "We were the fearless Miguel and Tulio. We braved everything from grouchy guards to violent bulls. But now you've become his neurotic, short-tempered worry-wort who's afraid to look a puppy in the eye. I was just trying to bring back the old Tulio."

Tulio looked away. He knew what Miguel was saying was true. He had become more rigid lately. But it was only because he was being more careful. "I was only trying to be less reckless. You know, think about the future." Tulio replied, defeated,

"There's such a thing as being too careful. And why this sudden change anyway?" Miguel pressed,

"It's just…I've been thinking lately,"

Miguel narrowed his eyes. Tulio thinking too much was never good. "About what?"

"About the future and us being alive in it. And, you know, normal things, like settling down and starting a family," Tulio continued, blushing slightly.

Chel looked away, her cheeks also slightly pink.

Miguel couldn't believe his ears. "…so this is why you've become such a neurotic stick-in-the-mud, because you want to become a daddy." He looked at Chel, "You're not…"

"No," Chel replied quickly, "I'm not."

Miguel sighed in relief, "Well good. Can't exactly have an expectant mother going on wild adventures, can we?"

Tulio continued to stare at the sand.

"Then wouldn't it make more sense for you to enjoy life and have some fun before you're tied down with that kind of responsibility?" Miguel suggested.

"Yes, but your version of fun is dangerous, and more often than not, involves being chased by something big, sharp and angry." Tulio replied, "I don't know about you, but my priorities have changed. I wouldn't mind living into old-age."

"Dying young was never in the plan, Tulio, it was just part of the risk," he tried one last time to convince his friend. Tulio just glared back at him, "Ok, fine, we can go back on board the ship if you really want to. We'll find a nice safe port to leave on instead. I hear France is nice this time of year."

"Thank you, that is all I ask."

Suddenly, there was rustling in the undergrowth of the forest behind them.

"What was that?" Tulio asked

Before he could react, Tulio felt a sharp blow to the head, and everything went black.

* * *

When Tulio awoke, he had a splitting head-ache. He groaned in pain as he tried to rub his temples, but found his wrists constricted, bound behind him. He was tied up. And appeared to be in some kind of grass hut. He looked over to his left to find Miguel in a similar situation, and Chel was also bound, to his right. A tall, dark-skinned man in a grass skirt and with a spear stood in front of them.

He noticed Miguel starting to wake up. "Miguel, are you ok?" he whispered furiously.

The blonde lifted his head groggily. "Yeah, I think I'm alright. What about you?"

"Apart from being tied up, everything's just dandy."

"Where are we?" Miguel asked

"I have no idea, but I'm going to guess he's one of the natives" Tulio replied, nodding in the direction of the intimidating dark-skinned captor.

Chel began to stir. "What happened?" she moaned

"It looks like we've been captured by the natives." Tulio replied, wincing as he saw the dark bruise on her neck. "Are you ok?"

She smiled grimly. "A few aches, but I'm fine. What are we going to do?"

Before Tulio could answer, a large, shorter man, who appeared to be the chief, according the intricate wreath on his brow, walked through the opening of the hut and barked orders at their captor in an unknown language. The tall man nodded and left, leaving the prisoners alone with the Chief. He clapped his hands and a boy, who looked on the verge of manhood, rushed to the Chief's side.

The Chief said something to them in his language. The boy translated in rough English, "Where you from?"

It was Miguel who answered him, "We're from Spain."

The boy relayed this back to the Chief. He said something else. "Where Spain?"

Miguel looked to Tulio. Tulio replied, "Ah….Far across the sea." Not knowing how to explain the complex directions to these seemingly primitive island people.

A glimmer of awe sparked in the boy's eyes as he understood what they were saying, before translating again. The Chief nodded.

"Why you here?"

"We were passing by, only here for a break." Miguel hoped the boy would understand what he was saying.

The boy seemed to pause before translating it back to his Chief.

The Chief nodded and gave the boy instructions. The boy the nodded and walked around to behind the post where Chel was bound. He released her from the post and led her, by her still bound wrists, out the hut. She tried to struggle and looked back at Tulio with panicky eyes as he started to protest loudly, but the boy refused to explain what was happening, and the Chief soon departed, leaving Tulio and Miguel alone in the dark.

"…what do you think they're going to do to her?" Tulio asked

"You don't want to know what I think they'll do," Miguel replied sadly.

Tulio looked down. Things had spiralled from bad to worse in an instant. He wasn't sure if he would ever see her again.

"On the bright side," Miguel started suddenly, "It looks like we'll be staying here after all."

Tulio glared at him until he was too tired to retain the anger.

"Don't worry, you'll see her again." Miguel comforted.

"In one piece?"

"Well, they didn't look like cannibals to me, so chances are; they're not going to kill her. The Chief just probably wants to make her his next wife or something."

"You know what Miguel?" Tulio said irritably, "That's not helping. At all."

"No, I'm probably wrong. Not all tribal natives practice polygamy. Or eat people. It's just a stereotype. I'm sure these are really nice people. They're probably just taking Chel to…give her some food and a bath, or something. And then they'll send her back, nice and pampered, and all curly haired." Miguel said optimistically, "I know how much you like it when her hair is curly."

"I do like her in curly hair," Tulio admitted, feeling slightly better from Miguel's lies, in spite of himself.

"See, everything will be fine. Just you wait, she'll be back by sunset."

* * *

Chel didn't come back that night. Or the night after. Tulio began to sink into a depression, making himself sick with worry over her. The extent of his reaction had surprised Miguel. Sure, he knew that Tulio really liked her, they _were_ technically a couple, after all, but he hadn't realised that Tulio actually loved her. How had he missed it? But he knew the answer to that. All those late nights, leaving them on their own. He hadn't been a very good friend lately. And now he'd completely missed seeing his best friend actually fall in love with someone. It was something they used to joke about. But not anymore. Miguel sighed, and vowed to make it up to him once they got out of this mess.

But Tulio really needn't have worried so much. Chel was almost having a good time. The tribe treated her like a queen, offering her rich bounties of fruit, as the women platted native flowers into her hair. It wasn't so bad.

On several occasions, she had tried to talk to the Chief, through his translator, to let her friends go, or at least give them more food, but the Chief refused and pretended to ignore her requests. After the fifth rejection, she began to sulk. Maybe if she looked unhappy they might do something.

It wasn't until the third night that Chel was told that the tribe wanted to do with her. She sighed deeply at the news, but managed to barter a compromise. The Chief had accepted. And so now it was up to Chel to break the news to her friends. She walked sadly to their hut, wishing she didn't have to go through with it.

Tulio looked up excitedly when Chel entered the hut.

"Chel! You're alive! Are you hurt? What did they do to you? What's wrong? Why do you look sad? Speak to me? What happened?" he said, all at once.

"Maybe she'd be able to speak if you shut up and let her." Miguel replied, rolling his eyes. "So answer him, what happened?"

Chel sighed. "Nothing. I'm fine. They didn't do anything to me, short of wait on me hand-and-foot and do my hair. It was great. I don't know why you guys ever left El Dorado." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. But her sad eyes gave her away.

"What is it?" Tulio asked softly.

"It turns out that they want me to marry the Chief's son, so he can take over as Chief, and I become his queen, or whatever you call the Chiefs wife. It seems in this tribe, you need to be married before you can lead."

"You? Marry the chief's son? That's…that's…unthinkable. You can't do it." Tulio protested, his heart breaking.

"I don't want to, but they gave me a choice. It's either I marry his son and you guys go free, or I refuse and the Chief feeds us all to the…Bungnybook. I'm not sure what that is, but whenever you mention it to the people, they get all terrified and run. So I don't think it's good."

"I can guess what one you chose, then." Miguel commented. Tulio just looked at the ground.

Chel knelt and held his head up to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Tulio."

He refused to meet her gaze, as it would be too painful. Life with Miguel, his best friend in the entire world, who he as known since childhood, or Chel, the love of his life, _and_ Miguel for a last couple hours before being eaten. It was a tough call.

"I know that you're thinking," Chel said, reading his troubled expression, "but this isn't your choice. It's mine. And I've already made it. You and Miguel are going to leave and have full, happy lives, ok?"

"But how can I without you?" he replied.

Chel was taken aback, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She leaned in and kissed him, savouring every last moment. After she pulled away, "You're going to have to try."

Chel wiped the tears from her cheeks and got up, to say goodbye to Miguel. She knelt down quickly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodbye, you guys. I'll never forget you, or all the fun we had." She said, sending a regretful glance back at Tulio before turning and leaving the hut.

The boys sat, bound in silence, after she left. It was the first time Miguel had ever seen his best friend cry.

* * *

Chel watched sadly as the two closest people to her in the world, walked away hesitantly, being ushered on by burly, spear wielding men, as they were taken out of the tribe and back to the beach. She saw the amassed plump women of the tribe cheering in their own language, apparently pleased that the intruders were leaving, while small children would run up to the strange men, look at them for a moment and run back, in a game to prove their courage. The Chief son, a tall, almost handsome, young dark-skinned man, held on to her protectively. His stern brown eyes were a mystery to her. The Chief, standing next to them, watched carefully and the strangers were taken away. Chel barely understood anything about this strange tribe, let alone why they wanted her to be their new queen. There were plenty of pretty young women already there to choose from. She supposed they wanted someone exotic, right? Everywhere she went she was exotic to someone. It was times like this she regretted ever leaving El Dorado. For all it's boredom, at least she was never forced into marrying strange men from a random tribe, or forced to leave the only man she had ever really loved, even if she had never told him so. She began to silently sob once more. She'd give anything to go back to Tulio and Miguel. But at least they were safe now, she reminded herself. They were going to be safe.

Little did she know, the translator boy looked on at her with sympathy.

* * *

The accompanying tribal men had left them ages ago to wonder through the forest alone. Miguel led them on the last leg of their trip back to the beach. As soon as they had stepped out from the forest, Miguel and Tulio were greeted by a gruff voice.

"And were in the world have you lads been? We've been looking for you for days!" complained the Captain. Miguel and Tulio were startled to see the ship still embanked on the shore. "Where's the lass? What happened?"

Tulio was completely oblivious to everything around him as he blankly stared at the sand. But Miguel was alert enough to hear what the captain was saying.  
"Lass? Ramonez wasn't a girl." He lied.

"Don't be daft with me, boy, I knew she was a girl. I ain't blind yet. Where is she?"

Miguel glanced at his friend and saw that he was in no condition to talk. "We were captured by the natives, and the only way we were able to negotiate our freedom was for her to stay behind…to marry the Chief's son." Miguel explained regretfully.

The Captain took off his hat as a gesture of sympathy. "It's a real shame, that is. I'm sorry lads." He said kindly, before taking a deep breath and replacing his hat. "But as sad as it is, we have no time to waste. Your little adventure cost us three days. We'll have to leave now and pray for good weather to get to Brazil in time. And I mean now. The tide will go out soon, and if it does we'll be stuck here for another day. So hurry up and join the rest of the crew."

Miguel nodded and headed back to the ship, back-tracking to Tulio and pulling him along by the front of his shirt. He was no better than a zombie in this state. As desperately as he wanted to, there was nothing Miguel could think of that would cheer up his best friend. Tulio had never had this kind of problem before. Neither of them knew what to do now.

They arrived back to the ship just as the rest of the crew had managed to push it out enough to a point where the ship could be navigated off the island on its own. Miguel had just made it onboard, after climbing the rope ladder, when he noticed something dart out of the forest and quickly run in their direction. Tulio was too distracted, contemplating wether to climb up or allow the shallow water to slowly pull him to see and drown, to notice.

It wasn't long until Miguel recognized the running figure. He grinned happily. "Tulio, turn around," he called out.

Miguel's voice had the affect of waking him from his trance-like state long enough to listen and look behind him. What he saw he almost didn't believe.

Chel was running towards him, dressed in a tribal outfit clearly given to her by the natives. She looked incredibly thankful to have found them in time. Skipping the last few steps between them, Chel leapt into Tulio's arms, who fell back into the ship's wooden hull from the unexpected move, but he caught her all the same. They embraced for a few moments, before Chel pulled away and glanced at him happily once more, before climbing up the rope ladder. After Tulio had joined them all, the Captain called for the anchor to be rased and within minutes, the island was becoming smaller and smaller.

Tulio held Chel protectively as they were crowded by the crew and the Captain.

"Welcome back, missy. I feared you'd be gone for good when the lads told me what happened," the Captain remarked.

Chel only nodded her thanks at their concern and smiled nervously, startled that none of the men seemed surprised at her presence.

After they had all gone back to work, steering the ship, Tulio and Miguel stayed behind to find out what happened.

"How did you get away? I thought I would never see you again." Tulio asked her, still half afraid that it was all a dream and that she would vanish if he took his eyes of her for a second,

"It was the translator boy. I think he saw how unhappy I was and helped me escape." She explained.

"Really? That's amazing. What's going to happen to him when his Chief finds out?" Tulio asked

"It doesn't matter, because they can't do anything to him." She replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he's right over there." Miguel answered for her, pointing to the young tribal man talking to the Captain.

"When did he arrive?" Tulio was confused.

"He was following Chel out of the forest and he climbed up when you two were busy having a moment. He's decided to leave the tribe and join the crew, you know, travel the world. Apparently he's always wanted to find out what lies beyond the sea." Miguel replied.

"And how do you know all this?"

"I was talking to him before. I know you seem to be oblivious to everything else now that Chel's back, but the world does go on regardless, you know." Miguel teased, grinning.

Tulio smiled back. He felt complete again, with Chel and Miguel. It was like his family was back together once more.

Chel just rolled her eyes and continued to cling to her man. It was scary how close she had come to marrying someone else. And the thought still made her blood run cold.

* * *

Later that night, as everyone else was asleep, Tulio lay there in his hammock bed, listening to the peaceful snores of Miguel in the hammock to his right, and enjoying the warmth of Chel as she slept curled up at his side, one arm lazily resting over his torso. He couldn't help but recall his most recent adventure, and how close he had come to loosing one of the most important people in his life, how close his little family had come to breaking up.

He thought back to the concerns he had had when she first joined, over the initial circumstances, with him and Chel wanting to head back to Spain, and Miguel determined to stay in the city of gold. He had almost lost his best friend, no he was more than that, his brother. He used to think that Chel's addition might spark more problems between them, but it had turned out to be his own fault whenever problems arised. He had changed dramatically due to Chel's presence, becoming more neurotic, more conservative, spending less time with Miguel, but Miguel, being the kind-hearted friend he was, had simply endured. Tulio wondered what he did to ever deserve such a devoted person.

Tulio shuddered over the unpleasant thoughts of loosing either one of them, Miguel or Chel. With her near loss still raw in his mind, burned in there permanently along with his near separation with Miguel, it was hard to imagine life without either one of them. If the choice now came up to choose between them, he wasn't sure anymore who he would chose. _But_, he reminded himself_, I probably won't ever have to make that choice_. Chel and Miguel got along like brother and sister. It was true. They were a real family now. And it was time to stop worrying over nothing and enjoy it. For with their track record, it wasn't likely to be long until they ran into another fun and dangerous "adventure".

* * *

**A/N: Yep, this is Juzz Face's birthday present. Happy Birthday Hep Cat!**

**(It's kinda rushed, I know. And it's probably complete crap. That's what happens when you endeavour to write something without a clear plot outline beforehand :( ) This is meant to be a kind of sequel to her one-shot "Strangers in Rowboats" (http://www . fanfiction . net /s/3060733/1/Strangers_in_Rowboats). She wrote that one long ago. You should check it out, cos it's awesome :D.**

**I tried to focus on Miguel and Tulio's awesome friendship, but for some reason, I'm incapable of writing anything these days without a bit of romance when more than 1 main character is involved, so this largely seems to have ended up about Chel and Tulio. But one thing I think I managed to get right was focusing it mostly on Tulio. 1 outta 3 isn't that bad, right?**

**So, anyway, once again, Happy birthday bud! I hope you like the story :D**


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